Most wheelchairs are equipped with a brake assembly of some sort. Such brake assemblies are usually hand operated by the wheelchair occupant.
While effective, these brake assemblies have several drawbacks. For example, if the wheelchair is being pushed by an attendant, the attendant may want total control of the chair, including the braking thereof. Many occupant-controlled wheelchair braking assemblies vitiate such attendant control.
Still further, since most wheelchair brake assemblies engage only one wheel of the chair, the effectiveness thereof can be reduced, especially on a steep incline where heavy braking may be needed. If a brake assembly engages only one wheel, the chair movement may be unbalanced.
It should also be noted that, even though it is often desireable for a wheelchair braking assembly to be under the control of an attendant, there may be situations where the wheelchair occupant must control the brake. This is especially the case if the chair, somehow, becomes free of the attendant and moves down a long or steep incline. This situation might be viewed as a run away condition. Such run away condition may require emergency braking by the occupant of the chair. However, such emergency braking should not cause the chair to become unstable, which might occur if only one wheel is braked, or if the brake is applied too quickly. Thus, the occupant should have the option of rapidly and stably slowing down a run away chair and then stopping such slowed chair completely in a safe and rapid manner. Many presently available wheelchairs do not provide the option of first slowing down a run away chair and then stopping it completely once it is under control.
Therefore, there is a need for a wheelchair brake assembly which can be controlled by an attendant, yet which can also be controlled by a wheelchair occupant in the event of a wheelchair run away condition to quickly and stably slow the chair to a desired speed and then to bring the slowed chair to a complete stop in a secure and stable manner that will prevent the chair from continuing to move until it is desirable to continue chair movement.